Kinetics and mechanism of the formation of (1,8)bis(2-hydroxybenzamido)3,6-diazaoctaneiron(III) and its reactions with thiocyanate, azide, acetate, sulfur(IV) and ascorbic acid in solution, and the synthesis and characterization of a novel oxo bridged diiron(III) complex. The role of phenol–amide–amine coordination

Abstract

The interaction of (1,8)bis(2-hydroxybenzamido)3,6-diazaoctane (LH₂) with iron(III) in acidic medium resulted in the formation of a mononuclear complex, Fe(LH₃)⁴⁺ which further yielded, [Fe(LH₂)]³⁺, [Fe(LH)]²⁺, and [FeL]⁺ due to protolytic equilibria. The formation of [Fe(LH₃)]⁴⁺ was investigated under varying [H⁺]_T (0.01–0.10 mol dm⁻³) and [Fe³⁺]_T (1.00 × 10⁻³–1.70 × 10⁻², [L]_T = 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol dm⁻³) (I = 0.3 mol dm⁻³, 10% MeOH + H₂O, 25.0 °C). The reaction was reversible and displayed monophasic kinetics; the dominant path involved Fe(OH)(OH₂) ₅ ²⁺ and LH ₄ ²⁺ . The mechanism is essentially a dissociative interchange (I _d) and the dissociation of the aqua ligand from the encounter complex, [Fe(OH₂)₅OH²⁺, H₄L²⁺] is rate limiting. The ligand binds iron(III) in a bidentate ([Fe(H₃L)]⁴⁺), tetradentate ([Fe(H₂L)]³⁺), pentadentate ([Fe(HL)]²⁺) and hexadentate fashion ([FeL]⁺) under varying pH conditions. Iron(III) promoted deprotonation of the amide and phenol moieties and chelation driven deprotonation of the sec-NH ₂ ⁺ of the trien spacer unit are in tune with the above proposition. The mixed ligand complexes, [Fe^III(LH)(X)] (X = N ₃ ⁻ , NCS⁻, ACO⁻) are also reversibly formed in solution thus indicating that there is a replaceable aqua ligand in the complex conforming to its octahedral coordination, [Fe(LH)(OH₂)]²⁺, the bound ligand is protonated at the sec-NH site. Despite the multidentate nature of the ligand the Fe^III complexes are prone to reduction by sulfur(IV) and ascorbic acid. The redox reactions of different iron(III) species, Fe^III(LH_i) which involved ternary complex formation with the reductants have been investigated kinetically as a function of pH, [S^IV]_T and [ascorbic acid]_T. The substantial pK perturbation of the bound ascorbate in [Fe(LH)(HAsc/Asc)]^+/0 (ΔpK _{{[Fe(LH)(HAsc)] − HAsc − }} > 6) is considered to be compelling evidence for chelation of HAsc⁻/Asc²⁻ leading to hepta coordination of iron(III) in the ascorbate complexes. A novel binuclear complex with composition, [Fe^III ₂C₂₀N₄H₃₅O₁₁ (NO₃)] has been synthesized and characterized by i.r., u.v.–vis, e.s.r., e.s.i.-Mass, ⁵⁷Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy and magnetic moment measurements. The complex was isolated as a mixture of two forms C ₁ and C ₂ with 75.3 and 24.7%, respectively as computed from Mossbauer data. The isomer shift (δ) (quadrupole splitting, ΔE _Q) are 0.32 mm s⁻¹ (0.75 mm s⁻¹) and 0.19 mm s⁻¹ (0.68 mm s⁻¹) for C ₁ and C ₂, respectively. The variable temperature magnetic moment measurements (10–300 K) of the sample showed that C ₁ is an oxo dimer exhibiting antiferromagnetic interaction between the iron(III) atoms (S ₁ = S ₂ = 5/2, J = − 120 cm⁻¹) while the dimer C ₂ is a high spin species (S ₁ = S ₂ = 5/2) and exhibits normal paramagnetism obeying the Curie law. The cyclic voltametry response of the sample (DMF, [TEAP] = 0.1 mol dm⁻³) displayed quasi-reversible responses at − 0.577 V and − 1.451 V (versus SCE). This is in tune with the fact that the C ₂ species reverts rapidly in solution to the relatively more stable oxo-bridged dimer (C ₁) which is reduced in two sequential steps: C₁ + e⁻ → [FeL]⁺ + Fe^II; [FeL]⁺ + e⁻ → Fe^IIL, the high labilility of the Fe^II complex is attributed to the irreversibility. The X-band e.s.r. spectrum of the polycrystalline sample at room temperature displayed a weak (unresolved) band at g = 4.2 and a strong band at g = 2.0 with hyperfine splitting due to the coordinated nitrogen (I = 1). At 77 K the band at g = 4.2 is intensified while that at g = 2 is broadened to the extent of near disappearance in agreement with the presence of the exchange coupled iron(III) centres.